John Joyce
Welcome to my small corner of the web.
Facebook have made a
rather better job of creating a website than I ever did, so find me on
there for more up-to-date photos and so on. This site is unlikely
to be updated often; it does, however, contain a reasonably up-to-date
CV, which is here. You can also download
my thesis.
About Me
I came to Cambridge (UK) in 1992 to study 'for three years'. Nine
years later I finished and moved to Stafford to work. Soon I discovered
it wasn't the life for me, so I moved back after a year. After a few
months of not much, I worked
for Cambridge
Semiconductor, a spin-off company from the University
Engineering Department, for seven years. They design power supply
control chips, and I designed test systems for their chips, power
supplies, and all sorts of other stuff too.
Now I have set up my own company Cambridge
Test Solutions. It provides test consultancy and services to
a range of industries.
Computers
Being an engineer, much of my time is spent with computers. In
younger days I did quite a lot of desktop publishing, a few
simple websites, and a fair bit of programming.
Most of my programming was in BBC BASIC, 6502 assembler, and later
ARM assembler and C. HTML and then PHP have also featured, and most
recently VB.NET and LabView. I used to enjoy assembling, setting up
and troubleshooting computer hardware and software; however there
is little time for that these days.
Old trains
My other major hobby is restoring old trains. I've been a volunteer
at the Llangollen
Railway in North Wales since I was 14. I'm a diesel railcar
fitter and driver there. My shed at home
usually has a few bits of train in varying states of disassembly /
repair.
Cars
I used to spend a lot of time mending cars, but modern cars
are so complicated that it's quite difficult to do much more than
pull the dipstick once in a while. Fortunately they are usually
very reliable as well! My first car was a Mini, for which I built
up a 1300 'go-faster' engine, and that was a lot of fun. Now I have
a rather more mundane, if comfier and more reliable, Ford Focus.
I still take part in occasional events with
Cambridge University
Automobile Club; I was their Competitions Secretary for two
years and Vice-President for one year when I was a student.
Other bits
I have tinkered with electronics, on and off, for most of my life.
Now I spend much of my 'day job' doing electronics too, though at
a rather different level. I also enjoy spending time in workshops,
though I'm certainly no expert with machine tools. I built up the
engine for the Mini from its constituent parts; block, crank, rods,
pistons and so on.
Recently I spent a little time as a Ballroom dancing beginner. I
find following a few simple instructions remarkably difficult when
dancing, but it can be fun anyway. Another recent activity is
evening classes in Mandarin. Writing in particular is rather
complicated, and progress is slow.
Last updated
21 Jun 2010 09:10 by John Joyce -
email jcjoyce@cantab.net